August Stramm

1874-1915

August Stramm was a German poet and playwright, considered to be one of the first expressionists. In 1914 he began a friendship with Herwarth Walden with whom he established the Expressionist journal Der Sturm in which his first poems were published. A reservist in the German army, Stramm was called to active duty when the First World War broke out. In January 1915 he was awarded the Iron Cross (Second Class) for service in France: he was then sent to the Eastern Front where he was killed in hand-to-hand combat on 1 September. A collection of Stramm’s poems – You – was published whilst he was at the Front in 1915: a second – Dripping Blood – was published in 1919.